BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Hugo Kuipers scored two goals in the second half.Brian Gutierrez added an extra point, and the Chicago Fire advanced to the wild-card round with a 3-1 win over Orlando City on Wednesday night.
Chicago will face Supporters’ Shield-winning Philadelphia Union in a first-round best-of-three playoff series. The Fire are in the playoffs for the first time since 2017 under first-year head coach Gregg Berhalter, a former U.S. men’s national team manager.
Orlando has advanced to the first round in each of the past two playoffs, but has won just one of its last eight games.
Twelve minutes into the second half, Gutierrez and Kuipers each scored for a 2-0 lead.
In the 48th minute, Gutierrez converted Jonathan Dean’s cross in front of the goal with his left foot and fired a shot with his right foot.
Kuipers made a hustle play in the 57th inning when he stepped on Pedro Gallese’s attempted clearance and the ball went into the back of the net for a goal. In the 68th inning, Kuipers scored another point off a pass from Philipp Zinkernagel for a 3-0 lead.
Tyrese Spicer scored for Orlando in the 89th minute.
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